Tate’s block drawing plenty of attention, possibly a fine

Pete Carroll hadn’t seen the replay of Seattle’s win over Dallas by the time he joined “Brock and Salk” on Monday, so the Seahawks coach couldn’t comment definitively on the legality of receiver Golden Tate’s vicious block.

Fair or foul, Carroll thought the block was impressive – and so did a famous friend of his.

Golden Tate

“Not to drop a name but I did get an email from Will Ferrell last night saying, ‘What a hit!'” Carroll said. “He said, ‘Tell me about Golden Tate.’ He was all jacked up about it so I think that reached a lot of people.”

Tate’s huge hit came in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 27-7 win on Sunday. Dallas’ Sean Lee was trailing Tate in coverage before he started to pursue a scrambling Russell Wilson. Lee had his head turned when Tate peeled back, took a few steps and delivered a block that sent the Cowboys linebacker into the air and onto his back.

The hit energized the crowd at CenturyLink Field, which gasped each time it was replayed.

Lee went to the sidelines for a few plays but returned after being examined by Dallas’ medical staff.

Tate told “The Dori Monson Show” on Monday that he had no intentions of hurting Lee, adding that he thought his block was legal and that he was glad to see Lee return to the game.

“I tried to go low enough to where there was no head-to-head [contact],” he said.

The block did not draw a penalty but it could incur a fine if the NFL deems it illegal. Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones told reporters that he expects Tate to be fined. Tate’s helmet appeared to make contact with Lee’s facemask, but Lee said afterward that he thought Tate hit him in the chest, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com.

Carroll said the same thing.

“I thought it was awesome. I thought it was a great block and the kid didn’t get hurt, which was great; we never want that to happen,” Carroll said. “But [Tate] picked a guy off with his shoulder down low enough it should have been OK. Now I don’t know what they’re going say about that; we’ll find out and then we’ll adjust just like always.”